Camp Lutherwood

Lately I've been catching glimpses of milestones from my life as they fly by on the calendar.  And I mean fly by.  The other day my cousin Kelly and I realized it had been twenty years to the date since our church confirmation.  Our confirmation was really the first big milestone we counted on our paths to becoming adults. 

Recently I realized another.  Today is the fifteen-year anniversary of the day I arrived at Camp Lutherwood in Cheshire, OR, for the summer session, and my first (and only) foray as a summer camp counselor.  I had just finished my first year of college at Wittenberg University in Ohio, and, determined to not have a boring summer job, I took my pastor's advice and chose what had been reported to me as the most beautiful Lutheran summer camp in the country.

And wouldn't you know it; as I went to dig for pictures for this blog I realized I have NONE from my time in Oregon. But, I did find this jewel of my cousin Kelly and me the day before I left TX.  First, keep in mind that this was smack-dab in the middle of the 90s, so forgive us for any present-day fashion faux pas.  Second, you probably can't tell because Kelly's big hair is both distracting from and blocking what exists of my hair (Sorry, Cuz!), but I had just cut mine in the shortest little pixie, because I was deathly afraid of being without a curling iron and a blow dryer.  Yeah...that should have been a tip-off that I wasn't ready to spend extended periods of time in the wild.

Anyway, as it turns out, Camp Lutherwood was amazingly beautiful.  Oregon was amazingly beautiful.  Is amazingly beautiful.  Of all the places I've been, Oregon still sticks out in my mind as the place with THE bluest skies.  See??



Okay, so, Oregon is really beautiful.  I digress.  The pic above is from the Northern OR coast.  That's not even where the camp is.  It is outside of Eugene, and there it looks more like this pic, which is actually a pic of the camp.

Where am I going with all this, you ask?  Good question!  Actually, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on the things I learned at Camp Lutherwood, and the ways Camp Lutherwood changed me.

First of all, the summer camp gig in Oregon kicked off my goal of seeing all fifty states before I had children.  You see, going to college in Ohio was pretty awesome, and I got to see a lot of places once I finally got out of Texas.  But once I got all the way up to the Pacific Northwest I realized my travel opportunities were as wide open as the blue Oregon sky. 

Second, I learned how to really pray.  I'm not talking about speaking to God in that quiet way and ending with "Amen."  I already knew that.  But the curriculum for that summer reminded us that it is just as important to be thankful to God as it is to ask God for things we want and/or think we need.  And while I'm not as committed to my life of prayer as I should be, I do realize I am more thankful than I am wanting.

Third, I learned that I am not cut out for life in the wilderness.  I recently told my girlfriend that she wouldn't like the Alaska wilderness because it would mean more shopping at REI and less shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue.  Same concept for me.  Aside from getting my hair cut to avoid the chance that it might be out of place (a purely egotistical move on my part), I remember sneaking away one weekend to a hotel and just looking in the mirror because I could.  Haha.  And, there was one time when everyone else was off on a nature hike, and my friend Mary Beth and I were painting our nails, trying our darndest to recreate the spa-like experience.  What can I say?  I do like my hot and cold shower water to work in conjunction with each other.

Fourth, and certainly not least (but, out of brevity...), I learned to really love at Lutherwood.  I fell in love with my first love so hard that we were eventually asked to leave camp because we couldn't focus on anything but each other (Yep, I'm not sure I've ever confessed that one...).  It's funny when I look back on it, because I've been around plenty of  teenagers, and I've read Romeo and Juliet more times than I can count.  I would be quick to dismiss the "young love" idea, but I can't, because I know it can also be so real that it hurts.  Don't get me wrong--I absolutely love my husband and the grown up life we've created.  And I won't go on to discuss that relationship and the many years and attempts we took to let loose of each other's hearts, because this blog is not the place for that....

So, if I had all the space in the world (I know, what's a blog for if you can't prattle on for hours?), I could go on next to discuss all the ways I have changed in the last 15 years.  But let me just say that I'm thankful to Camp Lutherwood, the people I met there, and the indelible mark it made on my life.  As its slogan reads, it truly is "a place set apart." 

Oh, and in case you want to send your kids there, here's the link to the website (which, I might add, did not even exist when I was there!  Haha!):  http://www.lutherwood.org/index.php.  Also, I came across this blog while I was reminiscing, and I am particularly taken by the pictures of this couple getting married at Lutherwood:  http://www.bluecastleblog.com/2008/06/zachkatie-062108.html.  Ahhh...if only everyone could have their own Camp Lutherwood experience!